Star Wars Fracture by DhuryamDhuryam
by DhuryamDhuryam
Summary: Conflicts on Zonama Sekot and in a Killik nest. Are they connected?


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Star Wars-Fracture

By DhuryamDhuryam

This is my first posting.

Disclaimer: If at some point what I have written conflicts with any of the novels, and if I cannot reconcile things, then it shall relate to a parallel universe. :(

May contain FOTJ spoilers.

Not quite as long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

251 ABY

Ni'Kira felt herself rolling and heard the unpleasant wailing of damage alarms. She groaned as she slammed into a wall. Sitting up, she squirmed out of the blanket that had been wrapped around her. An impact must have thrown her off the bed and onto the floor. The floor seemed to be slanted; the freighter must have crash landed.

The Falleen girl's blaster rested nearby, having fallen off her nightstand. She grabbed it and made her way to the door. Ni'Kira put her ear against it and heard nothing except that damage alarm. The door slid open as she touched the activation pad and, when no blaster bolts streaked in, she cautiously peaked out. She gasped when she saw bodies-dead, most likely-piled up against the far side of the main hall. There was some blood smeared on the floor, and one of the bodies had a visible blaster wound. A shootout? Had there been a mutiny?

Ni'Kira exited her quarters, walking as though she were on a hill. She carefully made her way to the cockpit. The pilot was still in his chair, slumped against the wall. And the copilot was on the floor, having fallen out of his seat. Both were dead.

The comm station was smoking. And as expected nothing happened when she tried to activate it. Obviously, the survivors of whatever had happened did not want to be found and had left the ship. If she hurried, perhaps she could catch up to them. But maybe she didn't want to. The fact that no one had told Ni'Kira what had happened suggested they didn't want her with them. And despite the fact that Falleens could produce powerful pheromones, that wouldn't stop them from killing her if they truly wanted to.

But Ni'Kira had to get off the ship. She couldn't stay there, with bodies rotting. So, within a half hour she'd collected two blasters, all the power packs she could find, a few knives, some food and water, and other items she might need. She went to the partially lowered boarding ramp; a large boulder had prevented it from opening all the way. She circled the freighter and saw only rocks and more rocks. So she picked a direction and started walking. The temperature was surprisingly comfortable for what seemed like a desert world.

The crew of the _Black Savrip_ had found Ni'Kira as a child and, unable to find any parents or guardians, had taken her in. Though they'd had no idea how to be parents, they'd done a descent job providing for her. Over time the crew of the _Savrip_ had grown. The new comers had no doubt been behind this mutiny. They had murdered her family and she couldn't do a blasted thing about it, except run away!

She partially unwrapped a FiberPrime bar, but ate only half of it. Ni'Kira didn't know if she'd have to start rationing. She took a small swig of water and returned one of five canteens to her belt. After a while Ni'Kira checked her comlink; she'd been walking for almost three hours. She took a long drink of water and realized she'd already used up two whole canteens.

It was getting dark quickly. And she thought she could hear something howling. Ni'Kira grabbed her two blasters. Of course, they wouldn't be much help if she couldn't see anything. Ni'Kira pulled a headlamp out of her satchel and put the band over her head. Unfortunately, the light would probably attract… She shook her head. Nighttime predators wouldn't need that extra light.

She heard something running up behind her and spun around, firing. A large, six legged reptile fell over, whimpering. And then she heard howling. More animals would come after her, and she'd have to shoot them, too. She ran forward, glancing all around for predators. Ni'Kira sent out pheromones to try to calm any nearby creatures. Though, she doubted it would tame their primal hunger.

She heard the patter of many feet behind her. And as she turned around one of the reptiles fell over, with some sort of spear in its side. The other reptiles turned and ran toward whoever had thrown the spear. Ni'Kira shined her headlamp ahead of the creatures until she saw a tall, cadaverous figure holding four spears. Four? She blinked her eyes and looked again. Yes, it had four arms.

As the six legged reptiles continued to run forward two more four armed creatures jumped out behind them, throwing spears. Knowing they were outmatched the reptilian creatures ran to the side and disappeared into the darkness, howling mournfully.

A large number of four armed people appeared from the shadows and began removing spears from their prey, killing the ones that were still moving. Ni'Kira heard skittering sounds behind her. She slowly turned around and froze. The being towering over her was taller than a Wookiee. Its face had two large, multifaceted eyes. And below that, two menacing mandibles. The Falleen girl made a squeaking sound and stumbled backward. She was staring at a giant bug!

But instead of jabbing her with a spear-it wasn't carrying any-it got down on all sixes. It waggled its abdomen and jerked its head at her, as though it were beckoning her to get on. Ni'Kira mulled it over. Any one of those giant bugs could have easily killed her, but it seemed as though they were protecting her.

Upon hearing more howling she jumped up and ran toward the giant bug. She climbed on and grabbed onto a pair of horn-like structures. And then the giant bug started running, faster than Ni'Kira thought anything could run.

They had found someone who could keep their nest united. She would willingly join, because The Two Nests that are One had saved her life.

254 ABY

Dorgan could not believe how improbably lucky he and his crew had been. Sitting on the flight deck of the _Kintan Strider _was an ancient VY-666 freighter; he didn't care that it was one of the ugliest ships ever constructed.

It was something of a mystery what had happened. They'd found the vessel floating dead in space, with a deactivated atromech droid and a few dead bodies inside. There'd been no air inside, so the bodies had been well preserved. The hyperdrive had needed repairs. Without a hyperdrive the crew must have hoped the sublight engines had enough fuel to take them to their destination. But, unfortunately for them the fuel had run out. But that didn't make sense. Why didn't they comm for help? The air leak must have killed them before they'd had a chance to do so.

The Weequay captain nodded in satisfaction as the ugly, old freighter rose up on its repulsors. The ship passed through the magcon field and was space born. Dorgan watched the ship disappear into hyperspace, on its first mission in many years.

"Where'z zee zhip?" yelled Dorgan's Barabel crew member.

The captain turned around. Xarfa, who was supposed to be piloting that freighter, pointed to where the ship had been moments ago. "It left. Don't know who was flying."

"Zee droid?" she said. "Maybe zee droid waz programmed to bring zee zhip back zomewhere."

Dorgan could not believe how improbably unlucky he and his crew had been.

Zonama Sekot

Keokomu stared down at the two dead Ferroans-or what was left of them, rather. Some beast had torn them to shreds. Over the past few days nine others had been found dead in this manner. And then the Ferroan investigator noticed a small scrap of clothing. Of the type worn by the people of the nearby Yuuzhan Vong village. Had one of these creatures attacked them, too?

Amon Hul had awoken to find his clothing ripped, his shirt hanging onto his shoulders by just a few threads. It had happened again. Coming out of his home in un-torn clothing, Amon spotted Keokomu and two other Ferroans he didn't recognize. The three were grim-faced as they spoke to Anto Val one of the Yuuzhan Vong elders.

Amon walked over to them. "What has happened?" he asked.

"Something has been killing our people," said one of Keokomu's companions. "A piece of the clothing worn by one of your people was found with them. But you have lost none of your people in this same manner."

A shiver went down the Yuuzhan Vong man's spine. He was this monster! "Perhaps this monster previously attacked a different Yuuzhan Vong settlement?" he suggested.

"Perhaps," the Ferroan woman said. She didn't sound convinced.

That night as Keokomu was headed toward his home after a late night meeting he heard someone screaming; it was happening again! He ran toward the source of the scream, spear in hand. The beast was on top of someone. The Ferroan elder slowly crept up behind the creature. Keokomu plunged his spear into the beast's back. It shrieked and turned around, throwing him a few meters. With the spear sticking out of its chest the creature slammed itself down upon the Yuuzhan Vong elder, using the spear to stab him.

At first Keokomu thought he was having some sort of nightmare. The beast seemed to be changing. It was starting to look like a…

Yoshi found Keokomu lying on the ground a few meters from another Ferroan whose body was too torn up for him to possibly be alive. She saw something running toward the outskirts of the village. The beast. She ran to the elder's side. He was barely alive.

"Yuuzhan Vong," Keokomu whispered weakly.

"They did this?" Yoshi asked.

Keokomu was dead before he could manage to answer.

The following morning Amon Hul was found dead on the ground near the edge of the Yuuzhan Vong village, a Ferroan-made spear sticking out of his back. And his clothing was ripped. Did the Ferroans want to start a war? Especially when some beast was… Did the Ferroans think the beast was a Yuuzhan Vong?

Yoshi, surrounded by a contingent of Ferroan warriors, met the Yuuzhan Vong fighters at the edge of her village.

"One of your people killed one of ours," said one of the Yuuzhan Vong.

"The beast that has been killing our people was that man," Yoshi snarled.

"You speak lies, woman. Amon Hul was no demon. How dare you speak so disrespectfully of our people!"

"There's something wrong with the planet," Tsetti Lah told her mother as she prepared a vegetable stew.

"What do you mean, daughter?" she asked.

"It feels dark, evil," said Enzetti, Tsetti's identical twin.

The Yuuzhan Vong sisters had known from a very early age that they were different. They could do things that others of their kind could not. And could sense things before they happened.

A while later Tsetti and Enzetti were in the forest, gathering food.

"Do you feel that, sister?" Enzetti asked.

Her sister nodded her head.

A Ferroan warrior, with a spear in each hand appeared from the brush. The sisters stared at him. He charged at them; so far out in the forest no one would hear the girls scream.

"Stop! Don't kill us!" Tsetti screamed. She put out her hand as though it would stop him. And to her surprise he was thrown backward as if by an invisible hand.

As the man fell to the ground his head hit a rock and there was a cracking sound.

"A Ferroan warrior just tried to kill us," the twins said frantically as they rushed into the house, minutes later, the food they'd been collecting completely forgotten. "But he fell on a rock and died."

Their parents stared at them. "One of our people has been killed by the Ferroans," the father told them. "He was found by the edge of the village with a Ferroan spear in his back."

"Is this the evil that you spoke of?" the mother asked.

"We believe so," the girls answered.

"We need to tell the elders of this."

"The Ferroans believe that one of our people was a demon," Anto Val told the warriors gathered around him. "One of the Ferroan elders killed him. And earlier today a Ferroan tried to kill two of our children. We cannot let this go on. We have a right, a duty to defend ourselves."

"The Yuuzhan Vong were harboring a demon," Yoshi said to the crowd of Ferroan warriors. "Two of their children killed one of our warriors. They are demons, too. This will not be tolerated!"

Soldiers marched out from the two villages. Neither army wanted the fighting to occur within their own village. As the two ranks came within sight of one another, they stood and stared at each other a long moment. The warriors shifted uneasily; no one had wanted it to come to this. Suddenly, the Yuuzhan Vong warriors charged forward; they were fighting in self defense whereas the Ferroans had initiated this violence.

The Ferroans then charged forward. The Yuuzhan Vong had made the first move; they were the aggressors. Spears and arrows flew through the air. People moaned and screamed as they were impaled. Something had gone terribly wrong. There was not supposed to be war on Zonama Sekot.

And then the ground began humming. A large fissure opened up beneath the heaviest area of fighting. Warriors fell into the hole, screaming. The fighting abruptly ceased and people looked around, stunned. Zonama Sekot would not tolerate this violence.

And then the sky was gone, replaced by a gray void. Yoshi had only heard stories of this. A hyperspace jump. As a child she'd been to the enormous hyperdrive built into the planet. Yoshi never thought something like this would ever happen.

Chiss Ascendency

The mottled gray of hyperspace gave way to a sparkling starfield. Ahead, in the distance floated the sphere of Zonama Sekot, surrounded by the silvery slivers of Chiss Star Destroyers. It was the reason a team of Jedi, led by Tycho Skywalker had been summoned from the Jedi Academy on Shedu Maad.

"It's as though the Chiss expect Zonama Sekot to attack," commented his wife Nelani, sitting beside him in the copilot's seat of the _Firefacet_.

"They're Chiss," Tycho responded.

Sitting in a third seat was a Bothan named Armedius Krey'tnarov, who had just recently become a Jedi Knight. His fur was mostly white, deepening to a pale blue in some places, similar to an iceberg. And his eyes were a deep amber color. Both features were rare among Bothans.

He'd been through a lot in his life, and was somewhat rough around the edges. His parents had abandoned him because they were afraid of what he could do. Armedius had been in the process of slicing into a rich senator's account when Tycho and Nelani had first found him. He hadn't known how else to get by. He never took more than he needed, though.

Moments later two X-wings reverted to realspace. "One place I never wanted to visit," Hemir Hodon commed Allana Skywalker. Hemir wasn't comfortable around his own people. They seemed so cold and distant. No sense of humor. And they were known to be xenophobic. He was a little prejudiced against xenophobes. And 'Hemir Hodon' was even a Chiss name. It was the name given to him by the human couple that had raised him.

Chiss Star Destroyer, _Duinuogwuin_

"Master Skywalker," said a Chiss man, extending his hand toward Tycho.

"And you must be Zorm'ordi'nuruodo," Tycho said. He'd been a wee bit surprised to learn that he and his team would be meeting with a member of the Nuruodo house. The infamous Grand Admiral Thrawn had been from the house. Which meant that this man was related to Thrawn.

"Mordin will be fine." The introductions continued with manufactured enthusiasm.

"You already know about Zonama Sekot, of course," Mordin said. The five Jedi nodded. "But there is another matter that concerns me. A shipment of Verpine shatterguns was intercepted. The ship was headed to the small moon Rzoto. And the Verpine crew said they were going to be paid with black membrosia. It would be good to get this sorted out before we end up with another Swarm War on our hands."

A shiver ran down Hemir's spine. He'd compiled a report about the Swarm War, between the Chiss and the Killiks. It would certainly be good to avoid another such disaster.

Tycho looked at Nelani, then back to Mordin. "We'll take Armedius to Zonama Sekot." He looked at his daughter. "And you can take Hemir to this nest."

"I would think it would make more sense for the masters to go to the nest," Hemir commented. "You'd be more resistant to becoming Joiners."

"Normally, that's how we'd handle it," Tycho said. "But I have a feeling that it will be more dangerous on Zonama Sekot."

"Yet, you take me," Armedius said. To one unfamiliar with his accent he sounded as though he was slurring his words slightly.

"Nelani and I will keep you safe."

Tycho looked at Allana and Hemir. "Make sure you stay together. The nest will be less able to make you into Joiners that way."

Allana turned to Hemir. "No chasing after pretty Joiners, you."

Hemir shrugged. "They're not my type."

Allana hugged her parents before they left for Zonama Sekot. She wouldn't be able to contact her parents through the Force because of the planet's strength in the Force; it would act as interference. But that's what comlinks were for.

Allana and Hemir grabbed a bite to eat in the mess hall. Upon receiving unfriendly stares, they sat at a table in the corner. "I don't think they like us," Hemir commented.

"I don't think they like anyone." Allana unenthusiastically pushed more gray goo into her mouth.

"How is it?" Hemir asked.

Allana looked at the gray stuff on her plate. "I'll let you know as soon as I taste something."

"If I'd thought about it I'd have brought my banshee sauce."

"And how would that have helped me?"

Mordin showed the two Jedi to the barracks after they'd eaten. Allana had expected the barracks to be sparse. But not this sparse. It was a gray box, with rows of beds. Mordin led them to a pair of beds in the corner.

"We slept on the way over here," Allana said.

"Then you can get started now," Mordin said, handing her a datapad. "Read it before you go."

"I'm glad to be getting out of here," Hemir commented as the two Jedi headed toward their X-wings. "All that gray was making me blue."

Allana just stared at him. Like the typical Chiss he had blue skin and red eyes, and his hair was black. "He looks kind of like you," she said a few moments later.

Hemir glared at her. "Oy. Don't be daft."

"I'm not saying I think you're related to Thrawn. You think my mom looks like Ke'Lita Kardazio, but you know they're not related."

"Your mum's too smart to be related to her," Hemir agreed. The celebrity was known for her outrageous behavior. The only reason she was famous was because her father had been famous.

Rzoto-Near border of Chiss Ascendency

Hemir ran a hand over his head. He'd been in diapers the last time his hair was this short. But, the Chiss Ascendency didn't like blokes to have long hair.

"This must be it," Allana commed.

Hemir expanded his Force awareness. It was like a consciousness spread out among many minds. A hive mind. "I can't wait," Hemir responded drily.

"I'll protect you from the big scary Killiks," Allana said lightly.

"Thank you, Button." Allana had received the nickname on account of her button-like nose.

"Shut up."

Moments later a brown and green orb loomed before them. A series of gentle loops brought the two X-wings down to the surface of what Hemir had dubbed Bigbugistan.

A welcoming party was already on its way out to greet them as they climbed out of their fighters. Surrounded by four massive black Killik soldiers, each carrying two shatterguns with their upper pairs of arms, was a Falleen girl. She was dressed like a bounty hunter. Holstered in her boots were two long, curved knives. And hanging on her belt were two shatterguns. It contrasted sharply with her innocent looking face. "My name is Ni'Kira," she said, extending an arm.

Hemir, who had walked ahead of Allana upon seeing the girl, rubbed his forearm against hers and introduced himself. It was a common greeting among Killiks and their Joiners. Allana rolled her eyes because she knew he was using it as a pretext to flirt with Ni'Kira. Lacking Hemir's enthusiasm she rubbed forearms with the Joiner and introduced herself also.

After an attack by a terrorist group called the New Empire, which had resulted in the deaths of Hemir's adoptive parents Alverez and Nomi Hodon, the two had become almost inseparable. But then Hemir had entered adolescence and everything changed. Though he was supposed to be growing up, he'd somehow become rather immature. Now, every time he saw a pretty girl, other than Allana, he seemed to forget she even existed. And Hemir didn't seem to know how much it hurt her. It shouldn't have bothered her, though.

But, fortunately Chiss adolescence only lasted two years and Hemir was on his second. It was a happy irony that Chiss finished adolescence around the same time as most sentient species started the process. At age thirteen he would have reached adulthood. Allana couldn't wait.

"I thought Joiners weren't your type," Allana whispered as Ni'Kira led them to the nest.

"When they're as cute as-"

"Never mind."

"I shall serve as your guide," Ni'Kira said, not even seeming to notice the conversation behind her. "And I shall answer any questions you have."

"A ship carrying Verpine shatterguns was intercepted on its way here," Hemir said. "The crew said they were going to be paid with black membrosia."

"The Two Nests that are One only produce the amber membrosia. You may search our nest if like."

"We would appreciate that," Allana said. She sensed no deception from the girl. If the nest was producing the stuff then Ni'Kira was unaware of it.

"The ship you intercepted must have been headed for another nest," Ni'Kira continued.

"Perhaps." Allana wasn't convinced. But arguing with a Joiner was pointless.

The group went through a labyrinth of tunnels which eventually opened up into a large, roughly dome-shaped room. There were not only dark shelled Killiks, but also white shelled ones. These pale ones were quite a bit smaller. And they walked on two pairs of legs instead of one. Through openings into side chambers Hemir saw some of them tending to developing larvae in large honeycomb nurseries. Others were transporting larvae, both light and dark.

"The Two Nests that are One. We have two different nests here," Hemir commented.

"Yes," Ni'Kira said. "The Protomotorp are the large dark ones. And the others are Temnonmet. After a long war they found that it was more practical for them to work together. And, as I'm sure you know Falleens can produce powerful pheromones. I use these pheromones to keep the nest united."

"So you are a Joiner of the combined nest," Hemir reasoned.

"The two nests are one." She walked over to a Killik larva and started petting it.

Allana looked around and sighed. It would take way too long to search the whole nest. She turned to Hemir. "We ought to report back to Mordin." Allana walked over to Ni'Kira. "Would you mind if we got some Chiss soldiers to search the place?"

"Of course not," Ni'Kira responded pleasantly. Too pleasantly. "It would help to prove that which I have spoken."

Allana activated her comlink. Nothing but static. "Darn. We'll have to go to our X-wings. There's some sort of electrical activity interfering with the comlinks."

"This world does often experience electrical storms. It should pass within a day."

"A day?" Allana asked, a slight edge in her voice.

"Oy," Hemir said, gently touching her shoulder. "It's not her fault."

Allana apologized before she and Hemir made their way out of the Two Nests that are One.

Allana felt the hairs on the back of her neck start to stand up. As expected the static on her comlink was even worse than before. But it had been worth a try.

Neither of the astromechs reacted in any way as the two Jedi approached. "Obby," Allana called. Nothing. She tried to open her X-wing's canopy. It didn't budge. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.

Hemir and an angry Allana walked back into the nest. "Our X-wings have been sabotaged," Allana said accusingly.

"I had nothing to do with that," Ni'Kira said indignantly.

Of course not. She'd been with Allana and Hemir the whole time. "Then who did?" Allana demanded.

"There are others here besides just us and the Killiks."

"Sure. Maybe some Jawa mercenaries hit our X-wings with a pair of ion cannons," Allana nearly yelled.

"Allana," Hemir said. "Would you stop it?"

She glared lasers at him. "The Killiks are keeping us here because they want us to become Joiners." Then, more softly. "We need to stay together so that that doesn't happen."

"Yes mum."

"This is nothing to be joking about."

"Do you know what 'uub buru uurub' means?"

"Of course not!"

"Then we have nothing to-"

She sighed. "It doesn't happen like that, you moron. It's gradual." She knew that they were supposed to stay together, but she couldn't stand to be around him right now. He was such a gundark sometimes!

Allana found an arm sized Temnonmet staring at her. There was a pearlescent quality to its exoskeleton that she hadn't noticed before. It was kind of cute, she decided. _Great, I'm turning into a bughugger . _The same thing was likely happening to Hemir. So she got up and headed toward the last place she had seen Hemir and his new girlfriend.

Allana found Hemir and Ni'Kira sitting together, eating. Hemir was absent mindedly stroking the girl's hand. Even if the girl hadn't been a Joiner it was still a horrible match. While the Chiss lifespan averaged eighty years, a Falleen's averaged two hundred and fifty.

Hemir was telling her a joke in between bites of food. "So the waitress comes back and says, 'I'm terribly sorry, sir. But that isn't nelab stew'."

The girl looked confused a moment, and then burst out in laughter as she got the punch line. Though Allana was embarrassed to admit it, she still found the joke hilarious.

She reached out to the other Jedi. His Force presence seemed somehow… muted? And there was something eerily serene about him. "Allana walked over to Hemir. I'm sorry I went off on you like that."

"It's alright," Hemir said, much too pleasantly. He wasn't the least bit angry.

Zonama Sekot

"It feels wrong," Armedius said as he looked out at the surface of Zonama Sekot. The planet looked worse as the _Firefacet _came closer. Smoke was rising from places and there were great clouds of dust floating in the air. There were massive fissures and ruined huts. Many people lay on the ground, dead. And in the Force there was a stain of darkness and despair. Someone had done this intentionally.

The _Firefacet _landed by a large gathering of Yuuzhan Vong villagers. They were not the Yuuzhan Vong which had invaded the galaxy over two hundred years ago. These people did not purposefully mutilate themselves. Did not turn their faces into hideous, noseless nightmares. Nor did they implant ugly spiky things into their bodies. And although they did not care for technology, they did not consider it an abomination as their ancestors had.

The three Jedi walked down the boarding ramp and were met by a Yuuzhan Vong elder, with two girls standing beside him. "I am Anto Val," the man said, bowing.

"I am Jedi Master Tycho Skywalker." He introduced the others.

"Something evil has come here," the Yuuzhan Vong said. He told the Jedi of Amon Hul, how he had turned into a monster and killed people in the nearby Ferroan village. "We believe it was this evil presence which changed him. Our villages fought and then Zonama Sekot moved."

"And this evil presence followed your world," Tycho said. "I can feel it."

"Those of us who are Force sensitive have felt it." Anto Val gestured to the two girls beside him. "Such of these children, Enzetti and Tsetti. They felt it more strongly than the others."

Curiosity stirred within Tycho as he looked at the children. It only grew when he reached out to them in the Force and felt only one presence.

"We're identical twins," one of them said, in a small voice, as though she had read his mind.

Tycho looked at Anto. "I believe these children may be able to use the Force."

"I have long suspected this," Anto said, with a slight smile.

"With your permission," Tycho said, "I would like to perform a simple test. It would be painless and it would determine if these two children do indeed have Force potential."

"Yes, yes." Anto looked at the girls. They both nodded their heads. "Can this be done now?"

"Yes. It will not take long at all." The children tentatively walked toward him. They were just a tiny bit nervous. "I'll need the two of you to separate for a few moments." They complied and confirmed for the Jedi master that they had identical Force presences; when in close enough proximity they appeared to share a single Force presence.

Anto appeared slightly confused so Tycho explained the purpose. He then placed his hands on the temples of one of the twins. Nelani walked toward the other and did the same. Tycho reached into the back of the girl's mind and found the primitive area he sought. He pushed at it, while at the same time stabilizing himself with the Force. It pushed back and he almost fell backward.

Tycho looked at his wife; she smiled at him. These children had the potential to become powerful Jedi. Yuuzhan Vong Jedi!

The Yuuzhan Vong twins seemed rather distraught to Nelani, as though they had lost someone. "Where are their parents?" she asked.

"They fell into one of the fissures that opened up," Anto Val said softly.

Rzoto

Based on what Ni'Kira had said, the electrical storm should have stopped hours ago. And yet it raged on. Its strength not diminished in the least. Allana voiced these concerns to Ni'Kira, who claimed to have no idea why this was happening.

"Many Chiss are not very fond of Killiks. Perhaps they are responsible," Hemir suggested. "They could be using something to strengthen the storm so that the issue with this nest is not resolved."

Allana doubted it. But she could come up with no alternate theory. She tried to expand her Force awareness outward, but she seemed to hit a sort of 'wall'. It was as though she was being blocked. There was a Force user behind this!

Allana turned toward Hemir to say something. What was it?

As Hemir and Ni'Kira started a conversion about how neither of them had known their parents Allana noticed that one of the Protomotorp seemed to be glaring at her. Not until now had she realized how menacing the creatures looked. Their mandibles, though not too long for a Killik, looked as though they could cut through durasteel. And they had wicked looking spines on their backs, and on their knees and elbows. The Temnonmet seemed to be afraid of the dark ones. They seemed to cower whenever the Protomotorp were near.

There was something rather sinister about the pale ones, Hemir decided. Were they planning some sort of uprising? The Protomotorp seemed to sense that something was amiss. Ni'Kira did not seem to notice this, which concerned him. The pale ones had been deceiving her. Hemir watched Allana walk over to a group of Temnonmet; they had deceived her, too. They had made her into a Joiner.

Zonama Sekot

Tycho could feel a mass of angry presences approaching. He and the other Jedi moved their hands to their lightsabers. Out of the trees marched a large group of Ferroan warriors, bows and spears at the ready. Tycho Skywalker calmly walked forward to meet them. "Violence will not solve this problem. You saw what happened the last time you tried that."

"The demons must die," one of the Ferroans sneered. "They are the source of this darkness."

"Enzetti and Tsetti?" Tycho asked.

"Give them to us."

"We will not allow you to murder these children."

Nelani stepped forward. "Perhaps we could take them away," she offered. "If they do turn out to be demons, as you say, then we shall kill them ourselves." Of course she knew they weren't demons. After she and her husband had taken the girls to Shedu Maad they'd come back to investigate the evil presence.

"And they would never again set foot on our world?"

"Correct."

"Your deaths shall be on your own heads, then."

"We understand."

The three Jedi and the Yuuzhan Vong twins, holding hands, walked toward the lowered boarding ramp of the _Firefacet. _Tycho felt a momentary flash of concern from his wife. Nelani rushed up the boarding ramp. The girls stared up at Tycho, who shrugged.

"You can come up now," Nelani said, a couple minutes later, as she walked back down the boarding ramp. She mouthed the word 'droids' to her husband.

Tycho nodded. The sight of R2D2 and C3PO could frighten the girls; they'd already been through enough.

Rzoto

Allana could understand the Temnonmet now. And was horrified by the extent of Protomotorp's cruelty. During the cold season, when food became scarce, the dark ones would feed on the Temnonmet. The Temnonmet were trying to get the attention of the Chiss, by injecting poison into the membrosia so that it would turn it black some time after it had been loaded onto a freighter. The hope was that the Chiss would come to destroy the nest. The Temnonmet would then turn against their oppressors and help the Chiss to defeat them. The Chiss would blame the dark shells for the black membrosia. And the Temnonmet would be free. What else could the Temnonmet do?

They had to make their move, and soon. Before the pale ones rebelled and began to slaughter the Protomotorp young. Before the black membrosia compelled the Chiss to destroy the nest. _Horrible. That the pale ones would allow so many of their own number to perish just to destroy the Protomotorp._ To prevent the Temnonmet from rebelling, the Protomotorp had to occasionally reduce their numbers. So it only made sense to use the terminated Temnonmet to feed the rest of the rest of the nest. He'd tried explaining this to Ni'Kira, but she seemed to think that the nest was still united.

Allana plunged her pink labersaber blade into the carapace of the dark shelled Killik soldier. That was the signal. The Temnonmet began to burble and then turned on the Protomotorp. Jumping onto the backs of the larger Killiks and stabbing them with long stingers that unsheathed from their abdomens. Others, carrying Protomotorp larvae drew their mandibles together, cutting the larvae in two.

The dark Killiks responded with their own burbling and began crushing the pale ones with their mandibles, or stabbing them with the spikes on their knees and elbows.

Ni'Kira screamed and started sobbing. She sent out pheromones to try to calm the Killiks. It did nothing. Hemir had been right. The peace that Ni'Kira had worked so hard to maintain had been destroyed. By the Temnonmet. The two nests could not coexist. One had to go. Ni'Kira picked up a shattergun and started firing at the Temnonmet.

Within moments the air was full of shattergun pellets and a horrible hammering sound. Killiks fell to the ground twitching.

Hemir raised a hand and Allana flew backward. She hit the ground with a grunt, but quickly rose to her feet and assumed a fighting stance. Hemir leapt over the injured Killik and began slashing at Allana. He slammed his golden blade down, creating a shower of sparks between the two lightsabers. He turned his wrist, pushing both blades downward. His lightsaber still holding down Allana's, Hemir's arm shot forward. She ducked out of the way just as another golden shaft extended from the other end of the Chiss Jedi's lightsaber.

Allana Force pushed Hemir away and fired her blaster at Ni'Kira. The blast hit her in the right shoulder and spun her around. Another blast hit her in the lower back.

Hemir heard Ni'Kira screaming and saw her fall to the ground. Anger flared up inside him. Allana had just killed the woman he loved! He charged at Allana, firing his blaster. She batted his blasts aside.

Hemir swung his lightsaber at her. She ducked out of the way and lock of dark red hair, tied together with a pink ribbon, fell from her head. There was a searing pain through Hemir's left arm as Allana's pink blade cleaved it off. It hit the ground with a thud.

Hemir landed on the ground and fell backward as Allana delivered a swift kick to his sternum. She swung her lightsaber down at his chest, but deactivated the blade before it could cut into him. This wasn't right.

Hemir just stared at her, hurt and confused. He didn't understand why she had stopped. But he knew that he was in no shape to continue fighting and that if he did she would take his head off. Deactivating his lightsaber and letting go of it he got up and scrambled over to Ni'Kira. She was still alive, barely. He sat her partially paralyzed body up and kissed her. Her heart soon stopped and she went completely limp.

Allana shook her head to clear it. What the heck was she doing? Hemir sat a few meters away, sobbing. In his arms, arm rather, was Ni'Kira's dead body. Allana had killed her.

She brushed Hemir's Force presence. He wasn't angry. "Hemir, I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault," came the muffled response. "It's these stupid, bloody bugs."

Allana sat on the ground beside him and put her arm around his shoulders. She surveyed the carnage; Protomotorp and Temnonmet alike lay on the ground. Many were in pieces and/or full of holes and oozing greenish guts.

The Killiks had dropped their weapons, and those that could began picking up injured nest mates. Each nest moving their own members to a different side of the cavern. And after the injured had been moved the able-bodied Killiks began feeding on the dead and some carried pieces to the injured. Allana found it disturbing, but also practical.

A couple hours later when the electrical storm died down, Allana's comlink beeped. The message was from her astromech, Obsidian. The storm had been powerful enough to shut down the X-wings. She had a sinking feeling that this was related to what had been happening on Zonama Sekot.

Allana walked over to Hemir, who sat by where Ni'Kira had been buried. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need to go," she said softly.

_Duinuogwuin_

Before leaving for Shedu Maad, Tycho had felt the evil presence disappear, as though it had been on ship that had entered hyperspace. But Tycho had not actually felt a living presence. Tycho reached out to Allana and Hemir; something had gone wrong with their mission.

In the medbay of the _Duinuogwuin _Allana explained to her parents and Mordin what had transpired at the nest as a Chiss medic bandaged the stump of Hemir's left arm; Hemir would be fitted for a prosthesis back on Shedu Maad. It had been agreed that it was wise to destroy the main cavern, so that the two nests could not reunite.

Tycho told his daughter and the two Chiss about the events on Zonama Sekot and the evil presence. "It was probably the spirit of a long dead Sith Lord. Someone like Palpatine, perhaps."

"Or," Hemir said,  
with a thoughtful expression, "perhaps it was the spirit of Natasi Daala." Once an Imperial Admiral, Daala had become Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance due to convoluted circumstances over two centuries ago. During her very short term, she'd committed such atrocities as hiring Mandaloreans to conduct a siege on Coruscant's Jedi Temple and exiling Luke Skywalker.

Tycho scowled at him, while his wife and daughter rolled their eyes. He looked at Allana. "I agree that these two events are most likely connected."

The mystery continues in Star Wars Retribution, coming soon I hope.


End file.
